EVANSTON, Ill. -- Fighting Illini baseball (13-14, 3-5) got back into the win column with a 7-2 victory over Northwestern (4-21, 2-3) on Saturday at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park.
Illinois opened the scoring in the ballgame in the first inning, scratching a run across thanks to an error.
The lead was more than enough for freshman starter Jake Swartz, who kept the Wildcats scoreless through the first five innings. Swartz, who made his first weekend start of the season, worked into the sixth, where allowed the only run in his outing. The Normal, Ill., native scattered four hits and struck out three batters to earn the first win of his collegiate career.
The Illini increased their lead in the third through an RBI-groundout from Cam McDonald, and then doubled it in the fourth when Danny Doligale brought home a pair of runs with a two-out double to make it 4-0.
Northwestern halved the four-run advantage with runs in the sixth and the eighth, but Illinois scored three times in the ninth to put the game out of reach. Ryan Moerman picked up an RBI on a dropped fly ball that scored two on the play and McDonald collected his third hit and second RBI of the contest one batter later.
Payton Hutchings and Korey Bunselmeyer worked the final 3.2 innings of the game, combining to allow one run on for four hits to go along with two strikeouts.
Illinois goes for its first Big Ten series with of the season tomorrow, with first pitch for tomorrow's series finale scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CT.
GAME NOTES
» Cam McDonald went 3-for-5 with two RBI.
    » Extended his hitting streak to six games.
    » Has gone 5-for-10 in this series.
    » Second game this season with at least three hits.
» Danny Doligale went 2-for-4 with a run, double and two RBI.
    » Extended his hitting streak to a season-high three games.
» Camden Janik went 2-for-3 with a run and a walk.
» Jake Swartz picked up the first win of his Illini career.
    » 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R/ER, 1 BB, 3 SO
    » Made the first Big Ten of his career.
    » Season-high in innings pitched.
    » Has allowed just one earned run over his last 6.1 innings of work.
» The Fighting Illini out-hit the Wildcats at a 10-8 clip.
» Illinois pitchers faced 38 Northwestern hitters in the game, allowing seven ground balls and 13 fly balls while striking out five.
» Illinois starting pitchers have allowed just two earned runs in 11.1 innings in this series.
    » Have also combined for 13 strikeouts and one walk.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
